Last night, Drew woke me up at like one in the morning because he was losing his mind over the fact that the deluxe edition of Weezer's Pinkerton had leaked. My initial thoughts on the matter: I really don't think that I give a fuck about this. Of course, it's almost 12 hours later and I'm listening to the DE at my desk at work. Some of these songs are still great ("Tired of Sex," definitely still great, "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" (b-side featuring Anna Waronker from that dog., still great.) The best songs on Pinkerton would have fit perfectly on The Poop Alley Tapes, a 2 CD compilation of L.A. bands who had recorded at Tom Grimley's Poop Alley Studios (though not featured on this comp, Madigan and Jen from Tattle Tale both recorded at Poop Alley.)

Anyway, the high notes on this comp are HIGH. "California" by the Rentals is amazing (it's only about a hundred thousand times better than the tweaked version, "Barcelona," that showed up on Seven More Minutes), "Adam in June" by June Blake is another winner. Like any comp, this has its share of forgettable songs, but the good ones are so good that you totally forget the bad ones.

If nothing else, The Poop Alley Tapes is an artifact of a mostly lost scene & the only place you'll hear most of these bands. Which is a real shame, because I could listen to album after album by June Blake or The Strawberry Jams.